Multiplication Games

This Pilot study was massive, but very simple. We partnered with 500 districts across the country to test the fact fluency of 250,000 students. Each student was given a pre-test that simply asked them each of the multiplication facts, 2 - 12, evaluating their response for speed and accuracy, factoring in the time required for typing. The histogram for those results is displayed above in blue.

Next we took 15,000 of those students, ran them through our fact fluency game, then administered a post-test to measure the improvement. Because of Timez Attack's built-in assessment and customized instructional responses, this group's average post-test scores were a nearly-perfect 95%. Their complete histogram is portrayed above in red. The best part of the "Finisher" data is what happened with the struggling students. The bottom quartile of the "Finishers" tested below 25% mastery initially, yet STILL finished with a 94% average! Click here to see the before and after chart for just the finishers.

There are two key findings from this research. The first, we did not anticipate. It turns out that districts generally lack a tool that will time and aggregate a students' mastery of each individual fact. So, although fact fluency is one of the #1 critical needs listed in the Common Core Standards, this is really the first time that districts have been able to assess how they're doing in this area. Previously, most districts believed their students knew much more than just 30% to 50% of their facts. They know full well that students cannot effectively master higher level math concepts without basic fluency, but in general they are unaware how many students know so little.

The second key finding is that it appears that we have successfully developed a "cure" for fact fluency problems. The curriculum is powerful enough to deliver near-perfect results for the vast majority of students, regardless of whether they are young or old, male or female, gifted or challenged. Teachers typically spend 30 hours per year getting their students to 30% to 50% mastery. We are able to deliver 95% mastery in just 8 hours.

Retention. We have not yet tracked how effectively students retain mastery after summer break. However, the retention component built into the game typically ensures that students have developed and retained their mastery over a period of 3 to 4 months.

Theoretically a deck of flash cards could generate these same results if implemented effectively enough, so ease of implementation is obviously critical. We found that schools need to do 1 simple thing to successfully generate these results--just put it in the schedule. The high-end gaming content and brilliant artificial intelligence should do the rest.

The key paradigm shift is that fact fluency has a discrete finish line. It's not like wondering whether a watermelon is ripe or not. Either a student has mastered all their facts or they haven't. Our program knows exactly how close to that finish line a student is and will not rest until they cross it. Typically that takes 8 hours from start to finish. If a student already knows all their facts, we will graduate them in a maximum of 8 minutes of assessment. Others will need more.

But however much time a student needs, it is vital that they get that time. Otherwise we are forcing them to learn advanced concepts while simultaneously struggling to make basic calculations. The brain can't do both things at the same time. That means we're essentially requiring students to fall further and further behind every year from 4th grade on.

An average 3rd grade teacher will normally spend 30 hours on fluency. We only need 8, giving teachers back those 30 hours to focus on struggling students or more advanced math. Typically that means 30 minutes per week for 3 to 4 months. That's it. Some will need more time, some will need less. But if we give them that time, put it in the schedule, then all 4th graders will finally know all their facts. They will all get the associated surge of confidence and they will be able to spend the following years learning and progressing, rather than falling further and further behind and getting more and more frustrated.